Mike Rennie

My love of aviation began, like most of us I suppose, in my infant years. My Dad would often take us to Ringway Airport (Manchester, UK), to watch the aeroplanes from the viewing area on the roof of one of the terminals (sadly, those days are gone, now you have to have a boarding ticket to have a chance of seeing the planes on the tarmac). My passion for planes even survived the dreadful time I had on my first trip in one, when I went to the Isle of Man in a Vickers Viscount, and with all those air pockets, had to grab for the paper bag no less than seven times during the half-hour trip. I'm glad to say that since then my stomach has hardened somewhat, and now I relish every flight!

Although I love all types of flying machine, from all eras, my biggest passion by far is for the piston-engined aircraft of the second world war. Ever since being given a game called "Spitfire", with cardboard counters representing the planes, and hexagons printed on cardboard for the sky, I've tried to get closer and closer to simulating the real thing as accurately as possible. Despite that, I'm a relative newcomer to the computer flight simulation scene. Just a couple of years ago I started out with I-magic's Air Warrior III, which was like a revelation, but then on an impulse I picked a copy of CFS off the shelf, and when I got it home and took my first flight into the beautiful world created by Microsoft, I was in heaven.

But then after a while I began to notice the cracks. Don't get me wrong, I think CFS is the best thing since sliced bread, but in all honesty, the default scenery objects and layouts are a bit odd looking, especially when you know what a real airfield looks like. That prompted me into action. After tinkering about with the mission spreadsheet and coming up with The Munsterland Business (July 1999), I began trying to do something to make the scenery, even in free flight, much better. The first result came about because of another childhood passion, trains. I realised that all the railways in CFS were single track, and that the tracks were far too wide, so I changed them into double tracks (side-by-side). To date, that's still been my most popular scenery add-on! Having done the tracks, of course I had to make a decent train to trundle along them. Hence my next release, Coal Train. But I still had a yearning for an airfield that looked like the ones I'd seen in so many photos. My first airfield, in a series that I later christened ABBA (Authentic Battle of Britain Airfields), was developed using Airport 2.10, and depicted Kenley as accurately as I could make it at the time. Since then I've added several other airfields to the repertoire, i.e. Biggin Hill, Croydon, Manston, Duxford, Dishforth and Middleton St. George. In each new scenery I try to improve my technique and do something new. I've now left Airport polygons behind and instead create all the ground textures (with dispersal areas, perimeter tracks, runways, aprons, etc.) using extended bitmaps (thank you Ralf for your help early on), while the buildings and trees are almost all made specially by yours truly, with authentic dimensions and textures.

I've had a bundle of fun with CFS and made a lot of online friends, especially after joining a virtual squadron, the RCAF 425th "Alouette", which has recently grown into something even more exciting, the RCAF 6th Group (visit us at http://rcaf6thgroup.homestead.com, the chaps would love to hear from you). The support and encouragement I receive from so many people who take the time and trouble to write to me is really heartwarming and urges me on to do more scenery. So far I haven't tired of it at all, and there is such a lot I'd like to do, if only I had more spare time! Anyway, I'll keep 'em coming.

I can't go without a final word about my lovely wife, Rosa, who doesn't understand what all the fuss is about, but puts up with it anyway and lets me indulge in my hobby, and doesn't mind (too much) when my little boy, David, gets enthusiastic about aeroplanes too. Thanks and a big kiss for you darling!

Mike Rennie
mrennie@teleline.es

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